THE NEXT ICE AGE - NOW!

22 Jan 08 - Temperatures on Earth have stabilized in the past decade,
and the planet should brace itself for a new Ice Age rather than global
warming, a Russian scientist said in an interview with RIA Novosti
Tuesday.

"Russian and foreign research data confirm that global temperatures
in 2007 were practically similar to those in 2006, and, in general,
identical to 1998-2006 temperatures, which, basically, means that the
Earth passed the peak of global warming in 1998-2005," said
Khabibullo Abdusamatov, head of a space research lab at the Pulkovo
observatory in St. Petersburg.

According to the scientist, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the
Earth's atmosphere has risen more than 4% in the past decade, but global
warming has practically stopped. It confirms the theory of
"solar" impact on changes in the Earth's climate, because the
amount of solar energy reaching the planet drastically decreased during
the same period, the scientist said.

Had global temperatures directly responded to concentrations of
"greenhouse" gases in the atmosphere, they would have risen by
at least 0.1 Celsius in the past ten years, however, it never happened,
he said.

"By the mid-21st century the planet will face another Little Ice
Age, similar to the Maunder Minimum, because the amount of solar
radiation hitting the Earth has been constantly decreasing since the
1990s and will reach its minimum approximately in 2041," he said.

The Maunder Minimum occurred between 1645 and 1715, when only about 50
spots appeared on the Sun, as opposed to the typical 40,000-50,000
spots.

It coincided with the middle and coldest part of the so called Little
Ice Age, during which Europe and North America were subjected to
bitterly cold winters.

"However, the thermal inertia of the world's oceans and seas will
delay a 'deep cooling' of the planet, and the new Ice Age will begin
sometime during 2055-2060, probably lasting for several decades,"
Abdusamatov said.

Therefore, the Earth must brace itself for a growing ice cap, rather
than rising waters in global oceans caused by ice melting.

Mankind will face serious economic, social, and demographic consequences
of the coming Ice Age because it will directly affect more than 80% of
the earth's population, the scientist concluded.

"Unless his numbers are off, we won't need to worry about
it,"
says Charles Patrick. "However, it may be worth noting the
recent NASA estimate the Sun will enter solar minimum in its
next cycle starting in 2015 and not the longer Russian count
of 2041.

"But then, as some assessment claim, they could all be out to
lunch and the solar minimum cycle is here now. Won't know
for sure until we see what the Sun does over the next 2-4 years.